---
layout: docs
page_title: 'nomad operator raft logs command reference'
description: |
  The `nomad operator raft logs` command displays the log entries persisted in the Nomad data directory.
---

# `nomad operator raft logs` command reference

The `raft logs` command is used to display the log entries persisted in
the Nomad [data directory] in JSON format.

This command requires file system permissions to access the data
directory on disk. The Nomad server locks access to the data
directory, so this command cannot be run on a data directory that is
being used by a running Nomad server.

~> **Warning:** This is a low-level debugging tool and not subject to
  Nomad's usual backward compatibility guarantees.

## Usage

```plaintext
nomad operator raft logs [options] <path to data dir>
```

## Examples

The output of this command can be very large, so it's recommended that
you redirect the output to a file for later examination with other
tools.

```shell-session
$ sudo nomad operator raft logs /var/nomad/data > ~/raft-logs.json
$ jq . < ~/raft-logs.json
```

[data directory]: /nomad/docs/configuration#data_dir
